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+1, 2 and 3 for Espar. Low fuel consumption, low battery drain, thermostatically controlled heat like at home...negative is equipment and installation costs. Makes a big difference after a cold foggy day in Maine to truly get warm, dry and comfortable. Be sure if you do it to lead some of the duct work into the head

05-09-2013 01:57 AM

SloopJonB

Re: Canadian sailing + heating ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bilgewater

Sloop...very cool! In the photo it appears to be venting directly into the house, is that correct?
Can you please explain what this piece of art is.

I'm just about to build a primarily wood heated house and I'm looking for something small at the other end of the house (the sun room) where the main heat can't efficiently get to.

Apologizing in advance for sidetracking this thread.

It was awaiting delivery to the new owner of my old boat. It's a Tewkesbury marine fireplace. They were available as an option on Columbias back in the day. Been out of business for decades but they were so solidly made that if you can find one, simply polishing the brass & bronze will make them look like new.

05-09-2013 01:53 AM

Bilgewater

Re: Canadian sailing + heating ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by SloopJonB

I'm a Canadian and look what I have. It's a solid fuel fireplace.

Sloop...very cool! In the photo it appears to be venting directly into the house, is that correct?
Can you please explain what this piece of art is.

I'm just about to build a primarily wood heated house and I'm looking for something small at the other end of the house (the sun room) where the main heat can't efficiently get to.

Apologizing in advance for sidetracking this thread.

05-08-2013 09:57 PM

bljones

Re: Canadian sailing + heating ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roger Long

One weakness of several common ones being that they can kill you.

actually, it's the lack of ventilation and airflow which can kill you.

05-08-2013 09:06 PM

TomMaine

Re: Canadian sailing + heating ?

A solid fuel heater is good for short term use, if you're comfortable with one. There are several small woodburning bulkhead stoves. You'll likely need a 3" pipe through the cabin top.

Our fireplace is a little blast furnace and supplies a lot of fast dry heat. It's simple, nothing to break, nothing to maintain.

In Maine, we use it mornings and evenings for a few hours, spring and fall, and never run it overnight.

05-08-2013 07:44 PM

travlineasy

Re: Canadian sailing + heating ?

My best cold-weather sailing device was the full enclosure I had constructed for my Morgan 33-O.I.. It cost me $700, it's made of 30-mil clear vinyl, held in place with snaps and Velcro. It consists of four, removable panels, all of which can be removed independently.

When motor-sailing up the ICW, outside temperatures were often in the mid 40s, but on days when the sun was shining the temperature inside the cockpit was in the upper 70s. Some days the temperature inside climbed into the 80s, during which time I either removed one panel and allowed some of the heat to escape, or in some instances, opened the front panel of the dodger.

The neat part about the enclosure is that not only does it keep the entire boat warmer when the sun is out, a fair amount of the heat is retained when the sun goes down. Now, when it really got cold, and temperatures fell to the lower 30s, at night I rolled up in a down comforter that I purchased from a department store for $40. It was a great investment, and sleeping in that chilly cabin was never a problem.

When I got out of the Vee Berth, which was usually about 7 a.m., the propane stove was fired up to prepare coffee and breakfast, and in just a few minutes the cabin and cockpit enclosure were both toasty warm.

This has been the coldest spring I've ever experienced. The temperatures have averaged about 12 to 15 degrees below normal nearly every day. It feels a lot more like March than May, at least in the Chesapeake's upper reaches. Sure miss those swaying palm trees, sugar white sand, turquoise waters and 80 degree temperatures I enjoyed during the dead of winter in Marathon, Florida.

If you don't buy a heater, and you can swing it, thing seriously about heading south and spend the winter in Marathon, Key West and the Dry Tortugas. You won't regret it.

Gary

05-08-2013 03:36 PM

Roger Long

Re: Canadian sailing + heating ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulinVictoria

Most heat sources are fine as long as you are careful, they all have their particular strength/weaknesses.

One weakness of several common ones being that they can kill you.

05-08-2013 02:49 PM

Tim R.

Re: Canadian sailing + heating ?

We have been lvining aboard in Portland. Maine 3 winters now. I installed a hydronic diesel fired heater. It is completely 12v so we can use it at anchor without running the generator. It also has the advantage of on-demand hot domestic water and engine pre-heat. The heater itself is located in an aft lazerette and the exhaust goes out the transom. See my projects link below for more info.

It has kept us warm with the outside temp being below zero. Warmer than in our 200 year old cape.

Last weekend we were out and it dipped into the low 40s at night. We were sitting around in shorts and T-shirts.

BTW, it was not cheap in spite of being self installed.

05-08-2013 02:36 PM

sailor1924

Re: Canadian sailing + heating ?

On my last boat I used a drip feed diesel heater. I mounted it in a locker, to transfer heat to the rest of the boat I made a copper coil that I inserted into the fire box. I plumbed the rest of the boat with fin tube radiators under the cabin sole. I added an expansion tank in the forward cabin and used a small aquarium pump to aid circulation of water and a small muffin fan to the combustion air intake to induce draft. The "pot" needed to be preheated to start vaporizing the diesel fuel, once hot and running this was extremely efficient and burned with a blue/white flame. This system kept the entire boat ( a 60' English ketch) at about 65 degrees in minus 0 temperatures in New York winters.
I'm a strong advocate of comfort depending on warm feet. I later added an insulation enclosure with a large air space to the exhaust flue pipe and used another muffin fan to circulate the air around the flue. This rig kept the boat at 70 degrees no matter how cold the weather. Unfortunately at first, I put the muffin fan on the discharge side of the flue enclosure and melted it. I almost set fire to the overhead as the heat was over 400 degrees at the flue.
The fuel consumption was about 1.5 pints per 24 hours. The electric consumption was extremely low as once draft and water circulation was established you could turn off the power to those devices.

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